Schoolkids in New Zealand discovered a new species of giant penguin

Romping around Waikato, New Zealand, a group of schoolchildren made an amazing discovery while fossil hunting as part of their natural history club summer trip. Accompanied by their club’s resident fossil expert, the kids kayaked to Kawhia Harbor and found an unusual skeleton set in stone.
The unidentified fossil was excavated from the surrounding sandstone fully in 2017 and donated to the Waikato museum. Now, paleontologists have identified the bones as a skeleton of a previously unknown species of giant prehistoric penguin. Using 3D scanning techniques, researchers created a digital model of the new penguin and compared it to other known specimens around the world. They concluded that this new penguin is between 27.3 and 34.6 million years old, from a time when Waikato was submerged under water. The penguin also stood at 4.5 feet tall (1.4 meters)—comparable to the kids who found it. The discovery was documented in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
When comparing known penguin fossils, the researchers found that their specimen bore similarities to a group of Kairuku penguins on the Te Waipounamu island (also known as the South Island) of New Zealand. But the new penguin was much leggier. They decided to name it Kairuku waewaeroa, which means “long-legged” in the Maori language.
“Kairuku waewaeroa is emblematic for so many reasons,” University of Massey ornithologist and paper co-author Daniel Thomas said in a statement. “The fossil penguin reminds us that we share Zealandia with incredible animal lineages that reach deep into time, and this sharing gives us an important guardianship role. The way the fossil penguin was discovered, by children out discovering nature, reminds us of the importance of encouraging future generations to become kaitiaki,” Thomas said, using the Maori word for guardians.
The fossil record for giant penguins is a little sparse in New Zealand, with paleontologists having to rely on a limited selection of fragments to piece together a chronology. Discovering a new specimen is already a valuable find, but this one is “the most complete fossil of an ancient North Island penguin,” lead researcher Simone Giovanardi told the New Zealand publication Stuff. It suggests that “maybe there’s more to uncover in the Waikato,” he said. “This is a special discovery.”